The four authorities have set up the Birmingham and Black Country Cross Authority Project (BBCCAP), and successfully commissioned a cross-authority housing support service for serially excluded adults.
The service aims to help vulnerable adults live independently and:
- acts as a preventative measure by helping service users avoid, for example, homelessness, entry into institutional care or clinical services, and the risk of re-offending
- reconnects service users to their own local authority area, re-establishing and maintaining their social and support networks
- ensures support services are delivered in response to individual needs, working with them to achieve independent living
- helps service users access preventative services and establish social links within the wider community.
To ensure the project’s success, the authorities developed a partnership agreement setting out the roles and responsibilities of each of the bodies involved and action to be taken if, for example, one of the authorities pulled out.
Provision of a seamless service is dependent on effective links between mental health, substance misuse and probation services across each of the four areas.
